Vehicles are in widespread use and car manufacturers produce a multitude of vehicle models that vary in dimensions. Certain vehicle designs make it difficult for drivers to judge the distance between the front and/or rear end of the vehicle and an object immediately in front of the vehicle. For example, vehicles designed to reduce aerodynamic resistance usually have a steeply sloped hood, making the front end of the car imperceptible to the driver seated in the driver's seat. Furthermore, visibility of the front of the car also depends on the height of the driver, which affects his/her ability to see through the windshield and over the hood of the vehicle.
Parking a vehicle in a parking space bordered by a stationary object, such as a wall, a curb, or a concrete sleeper, requires considerable care in positioning and judging distance to avoid causing damage to the vehicle. For example, drivers can damage the fender of their cars if they misjudge distance and drive into a concrete sleeper. The need to be able to judge the proximity of the vehicle to such stationary object is even greater where space is extremely limited, as is often the case in a residential garage. For example, drivers can damage the garage and the front end of their cars by failing to stop in time before making contact with the wall, or damage can be done to the rear of the vehicle when the garage door closes and the vehicle is not entirely within the garage.
Various visual devices to assist in safely parking a vehicle exist in the prior art. For example, Sanders, U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,758 discloses a vehicle parking guide that uses reflectors and mirrors attached to a plate mounted on a supporting surface to ensure proper longitudinal and lateral positioning of the vehicle in a parking space. Drover, U.S. Pat. No. 5,992,343 discloses a parking assistance device that relies on the alignment of two vertical bars and the alignment of two horizontal bars to recognize the safe position of the vehicle in a sheltered parking space. Ryan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,488 discloses a guidepost device which includes an indicator mounted on a rod positioned to indicate a reference point for the driver of the vehicle to recognize the safe position.
The visual parking guides currently available do not provide a flexible reference point to allow drivers of different heights to recognize the safe parking position for the vehicle. The available parking guides are not cost effective. Furthermore, the available parking guides do not minimize space usage because they protrude from the surface they are mounted on or require additional space to be properly positioned.
It is an object of this invention to provide a parking guide with flexible reference points so that it can be used by drivers of varying heights. It is a further object of this invention to provide a parking guide that is cost effective to manufacture and purchase and requires minimal space to use.